


Hanging By A Moment (Original Version)

by Ver (verloren1983)



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Community: blind_go, M/M, Plot What Plot, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-17
Updated: 2007-09-17
Packaged: 2017-10-28 02:11:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/302594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verloren1983/pseuds/Ver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As described by Aishuu: Unapologetic smut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hanging By A Moment (Original Version)

**Author's Note:**

> Written originally for round three of blind_go, which had a 5k word minimum. It also has no plot to speak of.

"Are you _trying_ to lose?"

"What the hell did you just say to me?"

"You heard me! Somebody just learning the game wouldn't have been dumb enough to try to pull off that keima!"

"What's wrong with it? If I just extend here-"

"Jeez, Touya, don't you know how I play _at all_? If you extend, I'll cut you off there-"

"And you just let me take the stones in the corner, stupid!"

"Who do you think you're calling stupid!"

"Obviously you must be if you think I'm going to let you get away with something so suicidal!"

"It's a good move!"

"Maybe for an Insei! All I have to do is put one stone in the center and your whole shape falls apart!"

"It does _not_!"

"Have you suddenly gone blind? There's no way that could possibly work!"

"I'm not the one-"

"Akira-kun! Shindou-kun! Stop it, both of you!"

Akira is startled to find Ichikawa-san standing at his right side, hands on her hips and eyes blazing. A quick glance at Shindou tells him he's not alone in his surprise, though his rival looks more relieved than anything else. Strange.

"I have _had_ it with you two! Your fighting just scared away a group of new customers. A _group_ of them!" the woman continues. "I don't care if you're both pro or if Akira-kun's father owns this salon, you give a bad impression about how people here behave!"

"Ichikawa-san..." Akira starts.

But he doesn't know how to finish. He has never seen her this angry, not in all the years he's known her, and his mind grasps in vain for the appropriate response. He gets the familiar sinking feeling in his stomach that tells him he's going to lose this particular battle.

"You're going to have to find somewhere else to play each other from now on! I don't want to see you sitting anywhere _near_ the same goban until you can play without fighting!"

"But-"

"Go on, get out, the both of you. I've had enough of you for today. You can come back tomorrow, but you need to find new opponents!"

The boys trudge out of the salon a few moments later. Shindou has his hands jammed into his pockets, the bottoms of his sneakers scuffing on the pavement as he walks.

"She didn't even let us finish our game," he pouts.

"I think that was the point," Akira responds.

"So what now?"

"My house?"

"You're on," Shindou grins.

***

"Good afternoon, Shindou-san."

"Oh hello, Touya-kun," Shindou's mother says, allowing him inside the house. "Do you have a game with Hikaru today?"

"Yes, but I'm a little early. Is he home?"

"He said he'd be replaying some games, so you can just go on up to his room. I'll bring some tea for you in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Shindou-san," Akira bows politely.

He walks the well-trod path to Shindou's room. He's been here often in the last few years, considering that they've alternated going to each other's homes ever since the incident at the Go salon. Akira opens the door when he gets to it, not even thinking to knock, which he discovers is obviously the _biggest mistake ever_. He suddenly feels like he's forgotten how to breathe, or his lungs have just stopped functioning, or something. Of course _other_ parts are apparently in perfect working order. Akira violently squashes that thought and tries to get something resembling oxygen to his chest with minimal result.

Shindou, for his part, doesn't seem to be faring much better in the breathing department. He's completely naked except for (oddly enough) his socks, panting and gasping as his arm moves up and down. His eyes are closed and he doesn't seem to have noticed his rival's presence. Shindou has his left leg bent so Akira can't actually see anything from where he's standing, but the idea of it sends his head spinning nonetheless.

Then the other boy's back arches off the bed a little as he increases the speed of his hand, and he moans something that sounds suspiciously like 'Touya.' Akira gasps loudly, completely shocked at this.

"Shit!" Shindou's eyes fly open and he throws a blanket over himself in immediate response, completely unaware of anything else except the singular fact that he's been caught.

"Mom, I-" Shindou stops mid-sentence and stares at Akira. "Touya?"

Akira can feel his face burning, but can really do nothing about it, so he simply nods.

"You... ah..." Shindou flushes and looks away.

"Get dressed. Your mother will be up with tea momentarily."

"Fuck."

The other boy begins to stand up, but sort of winces when he seems to realize that he is, in fact, naked. In front of Touya.

"Could you... um..."

"Oh!" Akira stammers. "Uh, yeah, of course."

He quickly backs out of the room and shuts the door, his mind reeling. What _was_ that? He instantly chides himself for this question. Of course he knows what it was- he really isn't as clueless about non-Go things as everyone seems to think he is. Did he really hear that correctly? Was his rival (who, incidentally, stars in most of Akira's fantasies these days) really been jerking off to the thought of him?

He hears a muffled "Okay," through the door and goes back in, only _sort of_ relieved to see that Shindou is dressed now. The boy is sitting on his bed wearing one of those god awful '5' T-shirts, though thankfully green instead of yellow, and a pair of black running pants that make soft swishing sounds as he squirms restlessly. Akira is suddenly very aware of exactly how tight the front of his own trousers are. He knows that if Shindou actually bothers to look at him in the next several minutes that his arousal at the situation will be blatantly obvious. However, the other boy doesn't seem to notice. Thank god for small miracles.

"Sorry," Shindou's face is nearly crimson by now. "I didn't expect... uh... yeah. Sorry."

"You didn't expect what? You knew I was coming over, we had a game today."

"God damn it, Touya! You were fifteen minutes early!"

"You also know that I'm not perpetually late like you are."

"I'm hardly ever late. Besides, that's not the point. You can't just go barging into people's rooms without knocking first!"

In his head, Akira concedes this point. He should have knocked. It's just that it had never occurred to him that he'd find his rival jerking off and moaning quite possibly _his_ name, of all things.

"Your mother told me to just come up," Akira says defensively.

"Pssh. Like I was really going to tell my mom that I was-- uh..." Shindou's face flushes again and he rubs his neck nervously as he stumbles over the words. "Um... well, you know."

Akira wants desperately to ask if he'd heard correctly earlier, but Shindou's mother picks that exact moment to enter the room with the previously promised tea. She appears a bit puzzled as to why they're not playing already, but says nothing about it, instead placing a warm cup in Akira's hands. She gives Shindou a plate of what looks like sugar cookies. His rival instantly puts it on his lap and shoves a cookie into his mouth, nods, and says something that sounds sort of like "Thanks, mom," although Akira can't really be sure considering that the boy's mouth is obscenely full.

"I'll be downstairs if either of you need anything."

"Thank you, Shindou-san," Akira bows as she leaves the room.

There is a painfully awkward silence between the two boys now that's nearly deafening in volume. Akira quietly sips his tea and is pleasantly surprised to find that it's been steeped to his taste even though he usually doesn't drink Oolong tea here. Shindou is, apparently, trying to see how many cookies he can fit into his mouth at once.

"That's disgusting," Akira announces.

The other boy says something to defend himself, but his mouth is so full of cookie that all that ends up coming out is some sort of indecipherable 'mmph' sound.

"Exactly my point."

Akira pads over to the goban and sits down in front of it, absentmindedly raking his fingers through the stones in the goke next to him.

"Nigiri?"

Shindou begins to get up in response but then grimaces a little and sits back down.

"There's no _way_ I can concentrate on a game right now," he says through clenched teeth.

"Do you want me to leave?"

Green eyes meet aqua ones, challenging, fighting for dominance. Green are the first to skitter away.

"You can stay if you want."

"Isn't that uncomfortable, though?" Akira asks, pointedly glancing at the plate still sitting on his rival's lap. Shindou's cheeks redden again and he squirms, his pants rustling with the movement. The plate wobbles dangerously but doesn't tip over.

"Very."

Suddenly Akira sees it. _Here_ is the opening he needs to take the game they've been playing for so long. It's risky, and it's actually one of those bold, out of the blue moves that his _rival_ is famous for, but he's almost positive it'll work. After so many months of wanting the other boy more than _anything_ he's definitely willing to take the slight chance of getting his shape cut apart.

He stands up and crosses the room, ignoring Shindou's expression of confusion when he takes the plate away and gently places it on the floor. He then sits on the edge of the bed and turns so that he can face his rival.

"Maybe..." Akira finds himself tripping over his words a little, but continues. "Maybe I can..."

Shindou nearly jumps out of his skin when calloused fingers graze his erection through the thin material of his pants.

"T-T-Touya!"

"Shut up," Akira murmurs as he attaches his mouth to Shindou's.

It's good, but a little uncomfortable at first, and he spends the first few seconds trying out different angles. He's also not sure what to do with his hands. And-

"Stop it, Touya," Shindou says, breaking the kiss.

"Wha-"

"You're over thinking it. This isn't Go, you don't have to plot out all your moves in advance and analyze everything. Just... go with it. Do what _feels_ right."

Akira grinds his palm into the other boy's groin in response, smirking at the sudden intake of breath.

"Like that?" he asks softly.

"Mmm."

Then Shindou is leaning forward, capturing Akira's mouth with his own, only this time his rival is insistently trailing his tongue along his bottom lip. He lets the tongue in and has to bite back a moan as it rubs itself against his. Shindou tastes like some weird combination of sugar and ramen, and oh God, Akira doesn't think he can ever let go of this, of _him_. After a few minutes he forces himself to pull back, panting a little. Shindou's lips are red and puffy, and it makes Akira want to kiss him again, but he knows there are more pressing issues right now.

"Lie down," he says.

"W-What?"

"Just lie down."

The other boy does as he's told even though he's quite obviously nervous, and it gives Akira an excellent view of _exactly_ how aroused Shindou is. He winces mentally, knowing full well how unpleasant that has to be by now.

"We need to do something about this," he says, watching his hand ghost over the bulge.

"Oh God," Shindou breathes. "But my mom is downstairs..."

"You'll just have to be quiet then, now won't you?"

Akira tugs at the elastic waistband of the pants, and fortunately Shindou takes the hint and lifts up his hips, allowing them to be pulled down. Akira is more than a little surprised when the other boy's cock springs free and slaps itself on its owner's stomach.

"No underwear?"

Shindou moans softly, though whether it's from embarrassment or relief at having finally gotten rid of the restrictive clothing is a little unclear.

"They were uncomfortable!"

Akira chuckles to himself and pulls the pants the rest of the way off, hearing them rustle as they fall off the bed a few moments later. He simply stares, unsure about what to do now that he's actually _here_. Maybe he should- no, that might freak the other boy out. He's suddenly regretting not having done more research into this kind of thing. Akira tried, once, to look at a yaoi doujinshi website, but he doesn't think that really counts. He'd been too embarrassed and too afraid of his mother catching him to study it properly, and he hasn't attempted anything like that since.

"Toouuya," Shindou whines, squirming. The tip of his erection trails wetness along his stomach as he moves.

"Oh. Sorry."

Akira moves so that he's straddling the other boy's thighs and wraps his fingers around him.

"Ah!" Shindou cries out, his eyes squeezing shut.

"Keep your eyes open. I want you to watch me do this," Akira says, his voice sounding unusually husky to his ears. The other boy's eyelids slowly open again as if it takes tremendous effort to do so.

He moves his hand experimentally. The weight is familiar in his palm, driving away some of his awkwardness at not knowing entirely what he's doing. Shindou's dick feels pretty much the same as his own except maybe slightly bigger, _damn him_ , and he soon gets into a comfortable rhythm that has his rival biting his lower lip to try to keep himself from making noise. Except it doesn't really work all that well and it's really only a few seconds before the boy is breathing heavily, whispering a barely audible chant of 'TouyaTouyaTouya' between gasps. It's this that makes Akira sure that Shindou had, in fact, said his name when he had thought himself alone. It had sounded almost exactly like this only now is so much better, because it's _Akira_ that's causing this. He's responsible for making the other boy half incoherent, for the fact that Shindou is quite literally fucking Akira's hand now, and it has to be just about the hottest thing ever.

"Oh God, I... I can't..." Shindou manages to gasp out.

"It's okay. Just let go."

The only warning Akira gets is a slight tremble of the shoulders just before Shindou comes, hard, biting his bottom lip with such force that it splits. He then collapses, boneless, onto the mattress. Akira carefully climbs off of Shindou's legs and starts to head out of the room.

"Where are you going?"

Akira turns around and smiles at the adorably confused look on Shindou's face.

"I'm getting something to clean up with."

"Top drawer on the left," Shindou says, looking vaguely in the direction of his television.

"You can reach that from where you are, you know," Akira finds himself smirking.

"But I can't move!" the other boy whines. "You put me into a coma!"

"Somehow I think you'll survive."

He pads over to the left side of the television cabinet. He kneels in front of it and pulls out the top drawer with his clean hand. The first thing Akira sees is a tube of toothpaste, but crumpled up next to it is some sort of cloth material. He wrinkles his nose at it and pulls it out, holding it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.

"I assume this is what you were talking about."

"Yup!" Shindou says as he glances over.

"It figures that you'd have one of these things."

"Hey, it's clean!"

"Hmm."

"It is! Besides, considering what you were just doing a few minutes ago, you really shouldn't talk."

Akira doesn't bother responding to this, simply opting to wipe off his hand before the stuff solidifies. He unceremoniously drops the cloth onto Shindou's stomach and reaches to close the drawer it came from.

"Why don't you keep your toothpaste in the bathroom?" he asks before he can stop himself.

"Huh?"

"Toothpaste."

"What're you talking about, Touya? I don't-"

The expression of horror that suddenly crosses Shindou's face would be funny if it weren't for the feeling that Akira has made a very bad mistake. Indeed, this is confirmed when a slow grin starts to replace the previous look. Akira somehow knows he's never going to hear the end of this.

"That's not toothpaste."

He looks at the tube again, curious, which he realizes is upside down. He picks it up and turns it over in his hands, but immediately drops it when he sees the label. Lubricant.

"Oh God."

Shindou is still grinning and a little pink in the ears, but says in a surprisingly calm voice, "It- it helps, you know? When you're... uh, never mind."

Akira knows exactly what it helps with, and he slams the cabinet drawer closed harder than strictly necessary as he tries in vain to prevent images of _that_ going through his mind. Something suddenly tugs at his shoulder.

"Come here."

He almost groans as the words go straight through him. Before this, he never would've guessed that Shindou could possibly sound _that_ sexy- but then, his rival has always taken delight in proving him wrong. Akira allows himself to be pulled back up on the bed and isn't really surprised when he finds Shindou's mouth attached to his own even before this task is complete.

"You want me to... you know..." the other boy asks a few moments later, glancing down briefly. Akira belatedly realizes that Shindou has taken off his shirt somewhere along the line and is once again completely naked, pressing their bodies together. Akira gulps.

"I'm fine," he says.

"You're so totally full of crap, Touya."

"Really, I-"

Any objection he might have, however, is cut off when Shindou suddenly shoves a hand down Akira's pants. It takes all of the self control he possesses not to cry out at this intrusion, but he gives up when the hand moves.

"Ahh!"

"You're definitely _not_ fine."

Shindou's hands are all over him, yanking at various different pieces of clothing and somehow removing them. Akira suspects there is something very _wrong_ with this situation, but he can hardly breathe, much less think properly. It doesn't even faze him when Shindou curses and tosses his favorite button-down onto the floor. All he knows is that he suddenly finds himself naked, and is pinned to the bed as he tries to shift slightly in an attempt to cover himself up.

"Stop," Shindou breathes into his ear. "Just let me..."

Akira gasps as something wet trails along the juncture between his neck and his shoulder. He feels the other boy's lips curve against his skin at the sound.

"Shh."

He attempts a scathing retort, but since Shindou picks that exact moment to latch his teeth on Akira's right nipple, the only thing that actually comes out of his mouth is a loud "Ah!"

"We need to be quiet, remember?"

"Fuck you."

"Later," Shindou grins. "If you behave."

Akira isn't really sure what to say to this, at least until Shindou bursts out laughing.

"You should've _seen_ your face!"

"If you're just going to make fun of me-"

"No, no, m'not. Hold on," Shindou mumbles distractedly while he leans over and opens the drawer to the television cabinet again.

"What are you doing?!"

"Jeez, Touya, chill out."

"But-"

"I'm not going to do _that_ ," Shindou says, even as he squirts some of the lube onto his forefinger. "I wouldn't just... look, just trust me, okay? This is good."

Akira moves his head up just a little, but that seems to be enough of a confirmation for Shindou, because he suddenly feels the finger brush against his entrance. _Oh god_.

"Shindou, that's disg-"

"It's what?" the other boy asks as he repeats the movement, lingering this time.

"Ngh."

"That's what I thought."

The finger moves in small circles, occasionally pushing in slightly and coming back out again, and Akira is certain that he's lost his mind because it's not _possible_ for something like this to feel so amazing. It's just not. He thinks vaguely through the haze in his brain that maybe he should tell Shindou that he's close, but then a hand _finally_ wraps around his cock and the warning is suddenly pointless anyway.

It takes several minutes before Akira feels like he's capable of moving again. He opens his eyes and is surprised to discover that Shindou hasn't really moved. Everything looks cleaned up, so obviously he had, but the boy is still kneeling between Akira's knees, one hand absentmindedly drawing random shapes on his left thigh. He has an expression on his face that's a little bit like the one he gets when someone surprises him with a move on the Go board. Akira smirks as Shindou bites his lower lip, obviously trying to prevent himself from blurting something out.

"What?"

"N-Nothing."

"Liar."

"It's just..." Shindou smiles slightly. "You're so beautiful."

"That was corny, Shindou, even for you," Akira says, even though he can feel his face heating at the compliment.

"Doesn't make it any less true."

Shindou flops down on his back next to him and sighs, a small smile curving his mouth just before he leans over and kisses Akira. It's only lips, but it still feels good and he wants more of it. Shindou pulls away just as Akira starts to deepen the kiss.

"Why did you do that, anyway?"

"What?" Akira asks, confused.

"In the beginning. The... the touching."

"Because I wanted to and you obviously needed it."

"But- but- you didn't know what I was going to do. I could've punched your lights out or something!"

Akira shakes his head.

"I knew you wouldn't. I... uh... heard you. When I first came in without knocking."

"Huh?"

"You said my name."

As interesting as it is to watch all the color drain out of Shindou's face at once, it becomes a bit worrisome when he doesn't speak for several long moments. Akira runs his hand up and down along the middle of the other boy's chest in what he hopes is a soothing gesture.

"Hikaru?" he whispers.

"Shit. I... you... _Shit_."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. I... I think about you."

Shindou's eyes widen at this, but then he grins.

"I can't believe you just admitted that you fantasize about me when you jerk off."

" _Shut up_ ," Akira says through gritted teeth, even though it's pointless because the other boy is laughing too hard to hear him anyway. He launches himself off the bed and starts searching for his clothes, which are, predictably, strewn all over the room.

"Aww, come on, don't get all pissy."

"I'm not. This is practical. Chances are that your mother will be coming up to check on us soon."

"Fuck, you're right."

They both begin to get dressed, though he notices that Shindou grabs some underwear and a pair of jeans instead of the running pants. Akira is horrified to see the state his favorite shirt is in.

"Shindou!"

"What?"

"Were the buttons too difficult to deal with?" Akira asks in a furious whisper, shaking the offending piece of clothing for emphasis.

Shindou at least has the grace to blush, "They were tiny! And you- it was a state of emergency, damn it!"

"It wasn't such an emergency that you couldn't have taken a few extra seconds to undo them properly. I can't wear this now, almost all the buttons are missing!"

"Here. Just... put this on, that way it looks like you just unbuttoned your shirt and already had this underneath," Shindou says as he thrusts a white t-shirt at him.

Akira puts it on and pulls the open button-down over it, frowning at the places where the strings hang off the fabric.

"You're going to find those buttons later so I can sew them back on."

"You can sew?"

"Well I can't ask my mother to do it! Don't you think she would ask _how_ my shirt got ruined? How am I supposed to explain that?"

"Tell her the truth?"

"Oh yes, that will go over fantastically with my parents. 'Mother, father, I sort of had sex with my eternal rival. Oh, and by the way, I'm gay,'" Akira hisses.

"Well, you don't have to say it like that!"

"Don't you get it? It doesn't matter how I say it, because no matter what, I'll be a disappointment to them. An _embarrassment_."

"Your father probably won't care as long as it doesn't affect your Go."

"Stop making fun of this! This is serious, Shindou! You know as well as I do that no one can ever find out about... whatever that was."

"Why do you always think I'm making fun of you? Have you ever thought that maybe I really am serious?"

Akira blinks, surprised. He has the sudden feeling that they aren't talking about the same thing anymore, and he isn't sure how to approach this.

"Serious about what?" he finally asks.

Shindou doesn't answer, just springs forward and kisses him, hard. Akira can't help but moan when a tongue slides into his mouth, and- god, how does Shindou even know how to _do_ that?

"I'm serious about you," Shindou says after a minute, pulling away just enough so that he can speak. "And about our Go."

Then there are fingers in Akira's hair and they're kissing again, and neither of them actually notices that they're moving toward the bed until the backs of Shindou's legs hit his goban and he falls, pulling Akira with him. They lie there uncomfortably for a few moments, and just as Akira thinks how amazing it is that the goban hasn't broken, Shindou grins.

"Wanna play a game?"

They get up off the goban and nigiri. Shindou wins black. Both boys are quiet at first, but before long, Shindou is smiling again.

"Hey, maybe we'll be able to play in the Go salon again now."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well... now that we've taken care of all that unresolved sexual tension... we'll probably fight less, right?"

Akira blinks stupidly for a second before realizing that Shindou is actually serious.

"Where did you get that 'unresolved sexual tension' bit?"

"Nase mentioned it once. Or twice. Or pretty much every time I've seen her since I turned pro. But I mean it, Touya, we can totally play in the salon now!"

"..."

"What?"

"We were just arguing less than ten minutes ago, and that didn't even have anything to do with Go."

"You don't think we can play a game without fighting, do you?"

"Uh..."

"Okay, fine, let's try it now. Whoever's wrong buys lunch for a month."

"Fine," Akira says calmly and places a stone.

***

"That was dumb," Shindou snorts.

"What do you mean?"

Shindou makes his next move in response, capturing a stone. Akira rolls his eyes.

"Yes, because that was _obviously_ so much better."

"Alright, _fine_. Let's see _your_ brilliant move, then!"

The stone slams onto the goban with a loud snapping sound. Shindou narrows his eyes at the board and then looks back up at Akira, green eyes blazing.

"That was even worse! What the hell are you doing, Touya, trying to throw me off my game by playing like you've never done it before?"

"It's a perfectly acceptable response!"

"Oh, please! I don't know what you're _trying_ to do, but it's not going to work!"

"If you can't see what I'm doing, then obviously you're going to lose your territory in the upper left corner!"

"Like hell!"

"Shindou?"

"What?!"

"I will not eat Ramen for an entire month. I hope you know that."

"Wha-- oh, _damn it_."

***

Afterwards, Akira doesn't quite remember how they go from fighting to being naked on Shindou's bed again, wet fingers pressing into him. What he does remember is how careful Shindou is- slow and gentle until Akira wants to scream in frustration, because nothing has ever been like this between them and they sure as hell shouldn't start now. How much of a relief it is when Shindou finally enters him, because even though it hurts a little, it's overwhelming and amazing in a way he never could've predicted previously even if he _had_ imagined himself on the receiving end of this. He remembers something inside that feels like electricity and fire and _oh my god, do that again_. Shindou smirking and hitting that same spot over and over until Akira completely comes undone. Then there's the full weight of the other boy on top of his chest, both of them still breathing heavily, and it's surprisingly nice.

"See? I told you you'd _so_ be uke."

Akira _definitely_ remembers that a few minutes later, he holds Shindou down and shows him exactly how wrong that statement is.

***

"Ochi will resign in the next five hands."

Akira glances up from the game he's inspecting in surprise, only to smirk slightly at the person who had snuck up on him.

"Three, actually."

"You were ruthless with him today."

"I'm sure you didn't take time out of your lunch break to talk to me about my game with Ochi."

For a split second, Akira has the fleeting impression of sharp blue eyes burning into him, as if searching for something; but the feeling is gone as quickly as it arrives and Isumi-san is nodding at him instead.

"It seems as if you and Shindou have finally figured it out."

Akira freezes. Could Isumi- no. It's impossible. It has to be.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he responds too quickly, completely unaware that this is a confirmation in and of itself.

"The two of you have never been good at hiding, Touya. Surely you didn't think no one would notice?" Isumi-san raises an eyebrow. "It's obvious to anyone who cares to look that you're in love with each other."

"We're _rivals_!"

"I'm not arguing that. It's just... look, I didn't come here to antagonize you. I just wanted to let you know... I understand, okay?"

Akira contemplates the other pro's flushed cheeks for a moment and then grins to himself. Two can play at this game.

"Waya, right?" he asks.

"How did you-"

"Shindou and I aren't the only ones who are 'obvious,' Isumi-san," Akira allows the man a few moments to collect himself and then continues. "But that's none of my business, just as I don't really see how my relationship with Shindou is any of your concern."

"I'm gonna kick your ass, Touya!" a new voice yells. He turns to see Waya storming into the game room with Shindou following closely.

"Waya!" Shindou shouts, frantically waving his arms in what seems like a futile gesture.

"Okay, fine. I'm gonna kick your ass when you screw this up. That better?"

Isumi sighs and shakes his head, but the corners of his mouth are twitching a little, while Shindou groans and stomps away from Waya. Akira rolls his eyes at the spectacle.

"Everybody's coming back from lunch," Shindou says, putting a hand on Akira's shoulder.

He knows the other boy will have to move away soon, but it's surprisingly comfortable like this. Waya and Isumi-san talking quietly several meters away. Shindou casually touching him like he has every right to. Which he does, of course, but it's just strange that it feels so... normal. No, that isn't right. Not _normal_. More like... it feels as if this is where they should've been all along. There's a gentle squeeze to his shoulder just before Shindou leaves to find his own goban, and a few moments later Ochi sits across from him, scowling a bit more than usual. The timer starts.

And he plays.


End file.
